NEW YORK - DO YOU know a child named Aiden or Madeline? Chances are someone will as they are the top names for boys and girls in 2009, while Jacob and Emma were the most popular of the decade.
'We've seen more spelling variations of both of this year's top names than we imagined possible - Aiden has also been Ayden, Aidyn, Aden, and Aaden and Madeline can be spelled Madeleine, Maddelin, and Madalen,' said Candace Alper, the creator/executive producer of the musical web site nameyourtune.com.
'Parents like the sound of traditional names, but they also want to show the individuality of their children. Parents realise that the name they give their child will become part of the child's identity,' Alper said.
She said that variations on the name Aiden are also dominating both boys and girls names, such as Jayden, Brayden and Hayden, because the names are gender-neutral and can be spelled so many ways. Her prediction for the next decade is that there will be more Edwards and a lot more Bellas being born due to the success of the Twilight film franchise.
Rounding out the top names for boys in 2009 were Matthew, Owen, Ethan, Jackson, Evan, Braden, Noah, Jack and Zachary. For girls it was Madison, Emma, Hannah, Olivia, Audrey, Isabella, Grace, Taylor and Emily.
Top boy names of the decade were Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Christopher, Jack, Daniel, Aiden, William, Joshua and Ryder. Top girl names of the decade were Emma, Madison, Emily, Hannah, Olivia, Samantha, Ashley. Ava, Elizabeth and Madelyn.
Named your baby "Miley?" Join the celebrity trend
Celebrities have the most influence on new parents, boosting the popularity of monikers such as "Miley," "Rihanna" and "Kingston."
Baby naming website nameberry.com (www.nameberry.com) said names moving fastest up the popularity ladder included Khloe, after reality TV star Khloe Kardashian, various spellings of Marley, after the romantic comedy film starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, and Miley, after teen star Cyrus.
"While the biggest baby name news of the year was Emma's rise to claim the number one spot for girls' names, the names moving fastest up the popularity ladder were influenced by stars, their babies, the characters they play, even reality shows and news stories," Nameberry creator Pamela Redmond Satran said.
Other celebrity inspired names included Rihanna, after the pop star, Hayden after actress Hayden Panettiere and Malia, inspired by President Barack Obama's daughter.
For the boys, Kingston, the name of pop star Gwen Stefani's son, was becoming increasingly popular, as was Milo, the son of actress Liv Tyler, River, the name of actress Keri Russell's son, Kobe, as in basketball star Bryant and Jude, after the actor Law.
Fictional characters are also inspiring parents, with the website listing Sloane, the name of a character on TV show "Entourage" becoming more popular for girls while all the names from the hit vampire movie franchise "Twilight" -- Edward, Cullen, Bella, Esme -- were becoming favorites.
